BlackLight
BlackLight is an RPG game developed by Pyro Enterprises. The game acts as a tribute to the 8-bit and 16-bit era of JRPGs such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, as well as taking heavy influence from Fire Emblem Fates. Story eShop Summary Enter the world of Equilibra in a classic JRPG journey where you get to see both sides of the story! When brother and sister Lux and Tene are separated in a shipwreck, they find themselves picked up and saved by the Orders of Light and Darkness, two factions both trying to bring peace and order to the world. Named the Patrons of Light and Darkness, Lux and Tene are sent into the vast world of Equilibra to find the fabled Heroes of Light and Darkness... even if that brings them to blows with one another... BlackLight is a classic RPG with gameplay inspired by the original Final Fantasy games; players explore a vast world and fight dangerous foes while unlocking various Souls, customizing your party's abilities with them in a classic job system. However, you don't just have one party, but two; Lux and Tene each have their own party, with their own storylines that each intertwine. Things you do in one storyline will affect how the other's progress. Killing or saving a character in one storyline will change the other's path, among many other things. Who knows? It's entirely possible that Lux and Tene, with their now-conflicting ideals driving them apart, may come to blows... And they'll use the parties that you yourself designed for them, using the same strategies you used with them. Your path is clear; do you have the courage to face yourself? Prologue: Light and Darkness ---- The game begins in a semi-large room, curtains blocking out the light. Two teenage children, one male and one female, are sleeping heavily when a middle-aged man in grey robes walks in, opening the curtains and waking the two children up. Calling them to rise and greet the day, he informs them both that today is their shared eighteenth birthday, and to get ready for the celebration he and the head maid August had set up. The man leaves the room, and the boy and girl, introduced as Lux and Tene, talk to each other as they get dressed. | | | ?| | |c1 = #ffcd00 |c2 = bleh |p1 = Lux |p2 = Tene}} The two children get dressed, exit their room, and travel down a long flight of stairs towards an outdoor dining room, greeted by their father and August. As the two eat breakfast, their father, named Lord Neil by August, is informed that all preparations for the maiden voyage of the S.S. Horizon have been completed, and that the two should finish up their last sparring session before the trip. The two walk away from the dining table onto the grass, and a magically animated suit of armor arises, ready to spar with the two. Boss Battle: Training Armor Upon the defeat of the Training Armor, Lord Neil restores the children to full HP, congratulating them on becoming full-fledged, confident warriors in their own right. While Lux is extremely excited to have their father's blessing as a knight, Tene is much less invigorated, worried that after their trip on the S.S. Horizon that they will be sent to separate castles to serve separate lords, never seeing each other again. Neil comforts the two, saying that they are the closest siblings he has ever seen, and that nothing, no matter how powerful, will ever break the bond that they share. August interrupts the close familial bonding, stating that the three should be heading off to the Horizon's maiden voyage. ---- After the player directs the group from the Neil Manor towards Coriolis Harbor, Lux, Tene, and their father arrive amongst a large crowd ready to send the ship off. As the crowd parts to allow the passengers to make their way through to the Horizon, Lord Neil waves to the captain of the ship, who rushes to prepare for launch. Once everybody is finally settled in, the S.S. Horizon goes to full power, leaving the dock as the crowd cheers for the massive ship's maiden trek. Things go well as the children settle down, Lord Neil and August leaving them alone for a second to unpack in their own room. As Lux collapses on his bed and Tene calmly sits down, the two begin discussing what they plan on doing when they separate; Lux stating that he ultimately wants to become a wandering hero like in the tales he was raised on, swashbuckling saviors with blades the size of their bodies, rescuing the innocent and vanquishing evil across the land. Tene, alternatively, states that she plans on becoming a scholar, venturing across the world as an explorer and discovering new things, in search of something that will change the world for the better. | | |c1 = blah |c2 = bluh |p1 = Lux |p2 = Tene }} ---- Eventually, sunset begins, and the passengers on the boat are summoned to the deck by Lord Neil for both general announcements and the celebration of Lux and Tene's birthday, one of the reasons for the voyage itself. When the two children arrived on deck, the passengers began cheering for the son and daughter of Lord Neil, the man who singlehandedly built the Horizon and had allowed them all to join them on the cruise. After sharing with the passengers that they'd be stopping at Neil's private island for a short time before voyaging to the cities of Corona and Aurora and returning to Coriolis, he turned to his children, ready to give them his blessing and begin the celebratory feast. ---- Festivities soon commence, and a small party breaks out on the deck of the ship. Lux and Tene, slightly desperate to get away from the slightly clingy nobles, make their way back to their room, and rest for a short time, inadvertently nodding off to sleep. However, they are abruptly awakened by the sound of explosions; running back out to the Horizon's deck, they learn from August that the ship's engine had malfunctioned, and that the ship itself was moments away from crumbling. The maid tried to grab both of their hands and carry them to safety, but a blast of steam split the floor apart, and the groups stumbled apart, the sinking ship pulling the platforms away from each other. As the ship falls to pieces, Lux and Tene try making their way towards the lifeboats, only to discover that all of them have been taken; looking out to sea, they discover that the other guests had taken the boats, and that their father was nowhere to be seen on any of them. The remnants of the boat split in two, casting the siblings in opposite directions and launching them into the water. | | | | | |c1 = blah |c2 = bluh |p1 = Lux |p2 = Tene }} The two fell unconscious, drifting apart on the waves from the wreckage of the S.S. Horizon. The sun finally sets on the sordid scene, as the screen fades to black and a message for the player emerges: Prologue Complete Choose a Story From here, the player is prompted to choose from one of two options: L1: A New Journey Begins |Priestess Rayna|welcoming Lux into his supposed destiny.}} Lux awakens in a strange room, a small circle with walls and floor made of white marble and a ceiling that seemingly stretches upwards forever. He shakes his head groggily, pulling himself up and sitting on the small hospital bed he had slept on for who knew how long. Asking himself what had happened, he soon found himself interrupted by a beautiful woman blinding white robes, a mask covering her eyes. | | | | |c1 = bleh |c2 = bloot |p1 = Rayna |p2 = Lux}} Rayna leads Lux to the main hall of the tower, revealed to the player as the Citadel of Light, and begins explaining the origin of the Order of Light: | | | | | |c1 = bleh |c2 = helb |p1 = Rayna, Lux |p2 = Adila}} Rayna flashes out of the room in a burst of light, saying that she would allow Lux and Adila to get to know each other while she took care of some "important business". Sitting down, Lux begins asking Adila about what the Order of Light does. Adila tells tales of the training that all acolytes of the Order persevere through; some become powerful warriors, whereas others, like her, harness their own latent magical prowess and become mages. Once their training is complete, they are sent off into the world to battle the forces of evil. Enamoured by this heroic lifestyle, Lux nevertheless asks Adila if the Order would possibly consider helping him locate Tene and his father. Unsure, Adila states that she assumes they would help; it's what defenders of order would do, after all. Lux's stomach began to rumble, and he realized that he hadn't actually had any food for almost a week; he hadn't had anything since that fateful breakfast with his father and sister. Immediately, Adila sprang into action, pulling him by the arm towards the Citadel's dining hall. Before the two are able to actually arrive in the hall, however, a nearby window shatters as a young man and woman jump through, wearing purple-colored clothing. Lux remains confused while Adila gasps in shock; the two intruders identify themselves as acolytes of the Order of Darkness, and announce that they plan to strike the Order of Light in their most vulnerable location and defeat them at last. Adila summons her courage and challenges the acolytes to combat; Lux, realizing this was a chance to be a hero, steps in to help. ---- The acolytes of darkness were defeated, their broken and unconscious bodies lying on the floor. Rayna teleported back in, a look of horror on her face that turned to curiosity upon seeing that the intruders that she had been informed of were already taken care of... And by the child that had arrived on his deathbed no less. Ordering a couple of acolytes to move the bodies, she asked Lux and Adila to follow her down the labyrinthine halls of the Citadel one last time; there was something she needed to see for herself. She led the two down deep beneath the earth, into the largest chamber in the entire Citadel. It was a room filled with nothing but a massive orb, shimmering and shining with the purest, most brilliant light Lux had ever seen. Adila began trembling slightly in fear, but Rayna told Lux to go forward and make contact with the sphere, simply to test a theory of hers. He walked tenatively up to the sphere and touched it... The orb flared even brighter for a moment, then dimmed considerably, much of its light draining into Lux himself. | | | | | |c1 = pp |c2 = noons |p1 = Rayna, Adila |p2 = Lux }} Rayna explained more to Lux and Adila; the Heroes of Light were the only ones capable of using the artifacts known as Tomes, enchanted scripts said to bestow knowledge upon the reader. She handed four of these books to the two, saying that they were the only Tomes that the Order of Light had managed to obtain over the years. Lux's first task was set; he would explore the realm with the full backing of the order he now represented, and find the Heroes of Light. The new Patron of Light left to prepare for his journey, but Adila stayed behind with Rayna to ask her something. She told the high priestess that even if she turned out not to be a Hero of Light, she wanted to travel with Lux; she just felt an obligation to help him and keep him safe. Rayna simple laughed to herself and agreed, and Adila rushed out to follow her new companion with a child-like smile on her face. ---- Rayna gave Lux and Adila more information, in order to help guide them on their quest. The Heroes of Light would be found the world over, not just in the city of Corona where they were currently situated, so the first step in the mission would be to charter an ship, enabling them to venture the globe in search of their fellow heroes. The pair set off into town, emerging from the tower's base into the bustling and shiny metropolis of Corona. Adila was extremely excited to venture out, saying she rarely got to leave the tower and this was a big opportunity to explore the town. Lux laughed along to her excited darting about, and joined her in exploring the town for any clue how to obtain a ship. Wandering around town, the pair came across the Corona Docks, a wide seaport brimming with various ships from across the world. It was the duo's task to now procure one, setting off across the world for... Well, Lux assumed they'd know when they got any clue as to what to do once they found the Heroes of Light. They searched across the docks, looking for a suitable boat, and finally found a vessel they found suitable; it was a white and gold ship of moderately large size called the Demiurge, and Adila happily remarked on how the ship turned out to be thematically appropriate for the journey somehow. The two entered the ship and found what appeared to be a father and son talking, the former extremely muscular while the latter was nearly thin as a twig. D1: A New Quest Begins |Priestess Umbra|welcoming Tene into her supposed destiny.}} Tene stumbles out of her deep slumber, awakening in a small circular room made almost entirely out of black marble. Grasping her pulsating forehead, she pulls herself out of the hospital bed she found herself in; noticeably, she had no idea how she got there in the first place. As she attempts to get on her feet, a woman wearing purple robes and an eye-covering black mask enters the room, walking over to help her stand. | | | | |c1 = blord |c2 = blorg |p1 = Umbra |p2 = Tene }} Accompanying Umbra down to the main hall, a still-enraged Tene kept demanding to know where Lux had gone, with the priestess repeatedly saying that Tene was found on her own, nobody in sight. Finally depressed and silent, Tene was helped by Umbra into the main hall of the tower, with the name Citadel of Darkness being revealed to the player. As Tene slumps down next to the wall, Umbra begins explaining the origin of the Order of Darkness. | | | | | |c1 = blool |c2 = weed |p1 = Umbra, Tene |p2 = Zain}} Umbra warps away in a burst of inky darkness, stating that she has urgent business to attend to that she can't ignore. Tene, still confused as to the organization's goal, asks Zain what exactly their deal is. Zain explains that acolytes of the Order of Darkness are basically trained from the ground up to become powerful warriors spanning a variety of disciplines, from swordfighting to magic manipulation to medicinal practices, and are then sent out into the world to ensure peace remains... through any means necessary. When Tene questions what the last part of the statement meant, the two are interrupted by a chiming sound, followed by multiple nearby acolytes rushing through the hall and into the Citadel's labyrinth. Zain rushes after them, and a curious Tene follows. The two arrive to witness a young man and woman in white and yellow clothing, seemingly having slaughtered multiple acolytes before they had gotten there. Tene threatens to kill them, but Zain holds her back, wanting to conduct diplomatic measures first. The intruders declined, saying that all they needed to know was that they were acolytes of the Order of Light and that they had arrived to remove their order's only threat once and for all; the Order of Darkness. Zain immediately dropped any pretense of diplomacy, rushing into combat with the intruders; Tene, shocked by their willingness to kill, joined in. ---- The battle was won, and the acolytes were knocked out as Zain pocketed their weapons. Umbra warped in, panicked and worried about the intruders, but her fear turned to quizzical curiosity when she realized that Zain and Tene had dispatched them all by themselves- especially impressive for the latter. Asking Zain to hand over the weapons as she whisked them away to the dungeon for interrogation, she asked Tene and Zain to follow her down to the depths of the Citadel, for she had a theory that she needed to test urgently. Down in the lowest underground portion of the Citadel, Umbra led the duo of children to a massive room, seemingly empty except for a giant orb pulsating with a calming purple light. Zain, worried about Tene, clenched his fists as Umbra pleaded with her to simply go up and make contact with the orb. With a determined stride, Tene walked into the giant room and stopped at the base of the orb, pressing her hand into it. The orb shone brighter for a second, then faded as the purple energy was siphoned into Tene herself. | | | | | |c1 = poot |c2 = toop |p1 = Umbra, Zain |p2 = Tene }} After a minor celebration by Umbra and Zain telling her to calm down, the high priestess gave Tene a collection of thick books adored with various symbols. The confused girl asked why she would need to study for her new position, and Umbra explained that they were Tomes, ancient scriptures containing the knowledge of legendary heroes from times past. They would be Tene's ultimate weapon in finding the Heroes of Darkness, empowering her with the same strength as the men and women who wrote them once held. Before Tene left, Zain cleared his throat, stating that he found it only fair that he be allowed to join the Patron of Darkness. Tene questioned him, and he said that he felt as though he needed to protect her, until such time as he felt his services were unnecessary. The girl actually agreed, and the two set off with a blessing from Umbra. ---- Umbra's primary words of caution were to find a method of transport; the Heroes of Darkness weren't all going to be in Aurora, the city in which the Order of Darkness was situated, so they'd need to figure out a method of getting across the world in order to explore. Leaving the citadel and entering the quiet, snowy city, Zain theorized that one of the best methods of transport would be the Shadowpaths, a method of transport long utilized by the Order to make sure that their activities went largely unnoticed. Tene wasn't too focused on his speech, however- the beautiful city with its soft snowfall was captivating her. Tene and Zain wandered through the town, the former exploring while the latter was merely trying to ensure that she didn't wander off, as well as attempting to look for an entrance to the Shadowpath set up in town. After examining the local stores in town, including a small bakery she seemed attracted to, the pair finally came across a small door-like mark on a wall drawn in purple chalk. Zain touched the mark, causing it to glow and open up into a black door-shaped void, and he beckoned for his patron to follow him. Tene was about to step into the mysterious portal when she heard a cry for help nearby; taking action, she fled to investigate. Gameplay BlackLight is a somewhat typical top-down RPG inspired by the first three Final Fantasy titles. You explore the world around you, collecting items, defeating bosses, and exploring sprawling dungeons. It is designed to capture the essence of the NES and SNES titles in the aforementioned franchise, though it utilizes a 3D overworld and models as opposed to sprites. Combat is inspired by simple NES-styled RPGs such as Final Fantasy, utilizing a simple battle system augmented by the new Burn Gauge system, as well as the usage of an advanced job system similar to that of Bravely Default. Burn Gauge Alongside the HP (or Health Point) and SP (or Skill Point) Gauges, each character possesses the BP Gauge, also known as the Burn Point Gauge. Each character begins the battle with 1 BP, and every action they take fills the gauge by 1. On any character's turn, they are able to Overburn a move or ability in order to level it up, draining the Burn Gauge and increasing the power of or changing the effects of a move. Normal attacks can also be Overburned, which causes the character to attack multiple times depending on the amount of BP burned into the attack button. BP can be burned into a move in order to be used as a form of "storage system", allowing the players to burn BP into a move and not use it on the same turn. This allows the user to activate the powered-up move on a later turn without spending additional BP to do so, as well as make up room for more BP in the gauge. In addition, this also allows the player to store and withdraw BP to refill the gauge after use. Tome System Tomes are BlackLight's equivalent of a standard job system, and take the form of magical books that effectively act like how-to guides toward mastering a job. Each character can tie themselves to both a Primary and Secondary tome, utilizing the skillset of both tomes but only using the stats of the Primary tome. The biggest difference between the Tome system and a standard JRPG job system is that Tomes are upgraded via Revnants, which are a currency awarded after battles alongside Onyx (gold-like currency) and Experience. This allows the player to level up jobs in the way they want them to be leveled, akin to an action-RPG like Dark Souls. Going along with this, most skills unlocked by leveling up jobs can also be leveled up themselves, upgrading attacks or unlocking new support abilities. Tomes are obtained through a variety of means, but usually there are only one of any optional Tome. This means that is one of the two parties obtains the Tome, the other party cannot obtain it at all in the given playthrough, and will have to resort to utilizing New Game + to grant it to both parties. Inventory Every character in the party has an inventory unique to them, in which they can store several objects for use in battle. This "personal inventory" contains the weapons and armor of the character as well as recovery items and Manastones. Placing items in a character's inventory will allow them to utilize them for free without wasting a turn, and holding Manastones allows the stones to gain power and level up spells, as well as allow the user to cast the spell without knowing the correct magic branch. Holding multiple weapons or armor pieces in one's inventory allows them to switch mid-battle. The game also possesses a traditional shared inventory, but players cannot use items from this without using a turn and cannot switch to weapons in it outside of battle. Dual Save Files Every save file in BlackLight is technically split into two separate save files: Light Story and Darkness Story. Each of these save files follows one of the two protagonists in their own separate journeys, and each one has a different storyline, party, and bosses. However, during multiple parts of the story, the two save files will converge, making events in one save affect the other. Story roablocks may occasionally appear in one file that need to be removed in one file, certain chests will be empty in one file if looted in the other, and some characters will be missing in one file depending on the actions of the other save file. The most prominent example of the files crossing over is when both parties are forced to fight at various points in the story. The game will utilize the party setup that the player themselves had used at that point on the other file, and utilize the same strategies the player uses. This feature was implemented as a method of testing the player, and was meant to enforce a feeling of "fighting against yourself". Characters Heroes of Light Heroes of Darkness NPCs Tomes As stated above, Tomes are the equivalent of a job system in BlackLight. Each Soul allows access to a specific class of moves, and more moves are unlocked as players spend Revnants on them. In addition, Revnants may be spent to upgrade already unlocked moves instead of gaining new ones, so players may unlock new moves at their leisure. Each character may also equip a secondary Soul, allowing access to that Tome's ability but not gaining stat edits like the primary Tome. For a list of abilities and powers available to each job, please view /Tomes/. Required Optional Category:Pyro Enterprizes Category:Pyrohedron Games Category:Role-Playing Games Category:Rated T Games Category:2014 Category:Fan Games Category:Original Games Category:BlackLight Category:Byte Compatible Games